Friday, March 24, 2023

Peer Pressure

Friday, St. Patrick's Day. It was a minimum day for the end of the quarter. 

(In 2020, the last day of the third quarter was the last day we had school. We shut down and stayed home that following Monday. So, the last day of the third quarter now makes me pause.) 

I was on my way out. I had to stop in the attendance office to submit my attendance for the day.

(This is not a usual occurrence. We usually are given a temp login for the online attendance. But, the secretary in charge of subs quit on us--long story--so another secretary, who's now doing her job as well as her own and a third secretary's who's been out for months, can't login to assign us logins. It's a tech issue. They're working on it.) 

The attendance clerk was busy. A student was using her phone, talking to his mother. 

I guess the minimum day had taken him by surprise. He was requesting a ride home. (Read: he was haranguing his mother about the change in schedule which he should have been aware of as it was on the school calendar, and I'm sure his teachers had mentioned it a few times.)

His mother's reply: his grandmother was already there, waiting for him.

He looked out the window. He saw her car. 

So, he was wrapping up the conversation. He was about to leave. 

He had two friends with him. The two friends were not pleased with the way the boy was getting ready to just leave. 

"Now, tell your mom 'bye' and that you love her." 

The boys were not going to have their friend disrespect his mother. 

It took him a moment, but then he did as they asked. 

The attendance clerk and I shared a glance. We both laughed. 

The boys left. I turned in my attendance to the clerk. And I headed out.

Some boys know how to treat their mothers. They expect that others do the same. 

Sometimes peer pressure is a good thing.

14 comments:

  1. Yes, sometimes it is. I hope they were for real and not just being silly to make mom think they had her back.

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    1. Oh no. I can't convey tone in text, but the boys were serious. They couldn't believe that their friend was going to walk away without closing the conversation properly.

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    2. Those are prob the friends he needs to keep in his life.

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  2. That's really sweet. Nice 'feel good' moment for one and all. x

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    1. It was nice to know that they respect their mothers.

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  3. That was a sweet moment, especially for all the mothers of teenagers reading this post.

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  4. "Tell your mother you love her!"

    This one just cracked me up.

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  5. Super to hear about love for their mothers. The boys gave some wise advice.

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    1. They had to remind him how to end a conversation with his mother.

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  6. It's wonderful to hear examples of positive peer pressure. Too often it's negative.

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  7. I wonder if his mum heard the nudge? Or if she was surprised with the way he ended the conversation?

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  8. Amazingly cool! I wonder if his mother had question marks floating around her head. I bet her heart melted with love.

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